Hands on, preview, first look, however you may want to call it: I had a short look at the Samsung i7500, which is going to be published in Germany, France and many other coutries under the name of „Galaxy“. Please note two things: Neither did I have a full day to spend with the phone, nor did I get a final version. Nevertheless I have my impressions, and I would like to share them with you. If you can add your impressions or technical data, go ahead and edit the data sheet of the Samsung i7500 Galaxy. Thank you very much. So, lets have a look at it:

Whats on the outside
Well, you might think that the Samsung Galaxy is just like the HTC Magic. Quite similar look at the first glance, same OS (Android 1.5), same display and so on. Actually, my first confession: I did not yet try out the HTC Magic. Evil me. But there are differences even on the outside:

1. The few keys left are really different, especially for someone who used the T-Mobile G1. I had try out the different keys quite a few times just because on the G1 they seemed to make more sense. Call me oldfashioned, but the „good old“ red and green receiver buttons give a lot more security. Actually, the whole set of keys looks just like on any other Samsung phone. What is also different: The trackball has been replaced by a regular Samsung navigation pad, quite easy to use actually.

2. The display. Well, you may discuss if the display is a „outside part“ or not, but it’s the highlight of the Galaxy. This does not mean you do not need to read any further, it is only the clear differenciator towards the rest of the competition. Using AMOLED, a technology used exclusively by Samsung, the screen looks way brighter than on the G1 or the HTC Magic.

3. The whole package. To make a long story short: The i7500 Galaxy is much slimmer than any other Android out there (again, there are only three), but a more than 12 millimeters is nothing to complain about. The shape is not very exciting, but what would you expect? Well, you see? Actually, combined with it`s size it is really easy to handle. Good shape, good control, good phone.

What is inside
Whats inside is easily explained: Alot. I will only highlight what I have tried out on my own, so if there are any blanks left ask for them ot search the internet.

Camera: The camera is really (2x) cool. One reason is the simple fact that it has a 5 MP resolution. This is not only way better than any other android phone, it will probably stay much better for quite some time. (unless Samsung produces a better one). Thank you feature-driven Koreans. Basically, what „Smartphone“-producers usually do is build in a lot of gimmicks but underestimating the importance of good camera. This part of most smartphones is usually left stupid. But why? Don’t businessmen take pictures? Is there never an opportunity to take a quick picture of a document or something? Well, maybe not in the rest of the world, but probably in Korea.

The picture quality, as far as I could see, is not as brilliant as in, like, the k850, but you would not expect that. 5 megapixels are still very usefull because it avoids zooming which is deadly to picture quality. I would love to try out Wikitude with it.

The virtual keypad: I have complimented so much on the Galaxy so far that it may seem I get paid for doing so. But wait, there is something, and it is something serious: The virtual keypad is, well, difficult to use. Unless you have very small fingers, typing a long message is really going to be a challange. The virtual keypad is there in the horizontal and vertical mode (the phone switches automatically), and surprisingly it is even difficult to use it in horizontal. This is definitely something to make the iPhone look much better, because the keypad is way bigger. When it somes to me, I cannot operate any of them, I stick with a physical keypad.

Video and music: Same old stuff here, nothing groundbreaking or revolutionary has happened since the G1. Too bad, to make it a super-entertainment-media-whateverphone it really needs improvement. No, sorry, I am mistaken, the G1 did not have a video player at all, if I remember it, now there is one, but more or less completely feature free. It is like the preview mode on a MacOS computer: On and off. Upgrade this, Google, please.

Memory: There is plenty of it in the i7500, which is what people are demanding, but somehow strange: If you do not built in a decent video- or even musicplayer, what do I need the memory for? Do you expect us to download that many files and email attachments? Don’t get me wrong, memory can only be replaced by more memory, but why on this phone.

Conclusion:
Well, the headline says it all: The Samsung i7500 Galaxy is the best Android phone so far. This may not seem complicated as there are just two other models out the market, but it is also not like Android is still very prototypish or similar.

If you compare it to the Jét S8000, the Galaxy is, from my opinion, much better. This is not due to the speed or the screen, ist just because I like Android and this is such a serious upgrade towards the Magic or the G1 that you should go for it.